BRIEF 

A 


OF 


E,  P,  ALEXANDER 


ON  CHARTER  OF 


CINCINNATI  &  GA.  R.  R.  CO 


BEFORE 


Senate  Committee  on  Railroads, 


GEORGIA  LEGISLATURE,  AUGUST  17,  1881. 


1881. 

CONSTITUTION  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

ATLANTA,  GA. 


A 


,t>’:  * 


Gentlemen  of  the  Committee : 

I  beg  leave  to  ask  at  your  bands  certain  modifica¬ 
tions  of  the  charter  of  the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia  Hail- 
road  Company,  recently  passed  by  the  House  of  Rep¬ 
resentatives,  and  now  in  the  hands  of  your  body  for 
consideration. 

Before  proceeding,  however,  to  point  out  the  modi¬ 
fications  which  I  feel  myself  bound  to  ask,  in  justice 
to  the  Georgia  Railroad,  I  wish  to  state  as  positively 
and  emphatically  as  possible  that  I  am  making  no  ob¬ 
jection  whatever  to  the  granting  of  a  charter  to  that 
company,  and  as  liberal  a  charter  as  any  in  existence 
in  this  State. 

I  have  seen  through  the  public  press,  that  objection 
has  been  made  by  some  to  granting  it  any  charter  at 
all ;  and  it  has  been  stated  that  the  Louisvile  and 
Nashville  interests  were  instigating  that  objection. 
This  I  beg  leave  to  contradict  and  deny  most  positively. 
For  myself,  I  will  say  that  I  am  opposed  to  the  State 
protection  of  any  interest  whatever.  I  believe  in  free- 
trade  and  free  competition  on  all  sides. 

My  creed  is,  that  no  railroad,  no  city,  no  town,  no 
trade,  no  manufacture,  and  no  individual  business  has 
any  right,  divine  or  human,  to  be  protected  ;  or  to  pro¬ 
tect  against  the  existence  or  growth  of  any  rival  rail¬ 
road,  city,  town,  trade,  manufacture,  or  competition  of 
any  kind  which  is  able  to  gain  a  foothold  and  make 
its  way  in  the  world.  Let  the  struggle  go  on,  and  the 
fittest  will  survive. 

For  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad,  I  beg 
leave  to  say  that  it  expects  to  hold  its  own  business 
by  the  facilities  and  accommodations  it  is  able  to  give 
its  patrons.  It  well  knows  that  triumph  gained  in  any 
other  waj^  would  be  delusive  and  short-lived  ;  and  it 


588186 


2 


is  working  not  for  temporary  success,  but  for  a  perma¬ 
nency.  But  it  lias  become  fashionable  in  Georgia 
within  the  past  year,  when  it  was  desired  to  excite 
prejudice  against  anything  before  the  people,  to  cry 
out  that  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad  was  at 
the  bottom  of  it.  Perhaps  some  of  you  may  remember 

how  much  of  this  was  heard  in  the  last  election  for 

* 

Governor. 

The  fact  was,  that  that  company,  not  owning  a  foot 
of  railroad  in  Georgia,  had  no  more  interest  in  the 
State  contest  than  if  it  had  been  in  Oregon  ;  and  when 
the  cry  was  raised  some  weeks  ago  that  the  L.  &  N. 
was  opposing  the  granting  of  a  charter  to  the  Cincin¬ 
nati  and  Georgia  Railroad,  I  was  only  amused  by  it, 
and  never  for  a  moment  imagined  that  our  interest  in 
the  question  of  this  charter  would  ever  be  any  more 
than  it  had  been  in  the  election  of  Governor. 

Bear  with  me  for  a  moment,  while  I  endeavor  to  ex¬ 
plain  that  the  building  of  the  proposed  road  from 
Rome  to  Atlanta  will  not  be  an  injury  to  the  Louisville 
and  Nashville  Railroad.  The  principal  business  of 
the  L.  &  N.  Road  in  Georgia  lies  in  bringing  to  it  the 
products  of  the  West.  Our  rails  stop  at  Chattanooga. 
The  State  Road,  free  to  all,  cannot  discriminate  against 
or  refuse  to  receive  our  freights  and  bring  them  to  At¬ 
lanta  for  distribution  on  equal  terms.  So  long  as  that 
is  the  case,  we  are  entirely  satisfied  with  the  situation. 
But,  in  a  little  more  than  eight  years,  the  situation  will 
be  changed  by  the  expiration  of  the  lease  of  the  road. 
When  that  time  arrives,  it  must  be  clear  to  every  one 
that  it  will  be  to  our  interest  that  there  should  be  two 
roads  in  existence. 

Should  we  desire  to  purchase  the  State  Road,  the 
price  will  be  materially  less  ;  and  should  we  not  desire 
to  purchase  it,  we  can  still  be  assured,  with  our  large 
business,  of  securing  fair  treatment  from  one  or  the 

Southern  Pamphlets 
Hare  Book  Collection 
UNC-Chapel  Hill 


3 


other.  So  that,  looking  into  the  future,  we  have  al¬ 
ways  desired  that,  by  the  end  of  the  lease,  a  competing 
line  should  exist  in  some  shape. 

There  is  nothing  but  common  sense  in  this  ;  and  it 
bears  out  the  sincerity  of  my  declaration  that  the  L.  & 
IT.  Road  makes  no  objection  whatever  to  the  granting 
of  a  charter,  and  as  liberal  a  charter  as  is  possessed  by 
any  other  road  in  the  State. 

But  the  charter  which  is  proposed,  only  came  under 
my  observation  day  before  yesterday,  and  to  my  sur¬ 
prise  I  found  in  it  a  provision  which  has  brought  me 
before  you.  It  is  a  provision  which  has  never  been 
granted  to  any  other  road  in  this  State  ;  nor,  so  far  as 
I  know,  in  any  other  State  ;  a  provision  which  has  no 
foundation  whatever,  injustice  or  right,  and  which  I 
consider  is  in  effect  no  better  than  a  proposition  to  rob 
the  Georgia  Railroad,  and  possibly  other  roads  in  the 
State,  including  the  State’s  own  property,  the  Western 
and  Atlantic  Railroad  ;  a  provision,  moreover,  which, 
as  a  railroad  manager,  and  with  some  experience  in 
these  matters,  I  believe  to  be  entirely  impracticable  to 
be  carried  out,  without  constant  accidents  to  property, 
and  danger  to  the  lives  and  limbs  of  all  who  travel 
upon,  and  are  employed  by  the  railroads. 

Bearing  in  mind,  therefore,  that  I  am  making  no  ob¬ 
jection  whatever  to  the  issuance  of  the  charter  itself,  I 
proceed  to  point  out  the  provision  in  the  charter,  to 
which  I  do  object,  and  the  reasons  for  m}^  objection. 

The  provisiou  is  found  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  charter,  as  it  has  passed  the  House  ;  and  it 
provides,  that  the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia  Railroad 
Company  shall  have  the  power  of  condemning  three 
miles  of  the  right-of-way  and  three  miles  of  the  track 
of  any  one  railroad  company  where  it  desires  to  enter 
any  city,  upon  payment  of  such  damages  as  may  be 
assessed  by  a  board  of  assessors. 


4 


The  novelty  of  this  proposition  to  me  is  so  great,  that 
I  can  hardly  believe  that  it  originated  with  any  one  of 
railroad  experience  and  knowledge ;  and  its  coolness 
certainly  suggests  a  higher  latitude  than  this  as  its 
birth-place. 

Under  this  privilege,  the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia 
Road  can  acquire  three  miles  of  track  in  Rome,  six 
miles  in  Atlanta,  six  in  Macon,  and  perhaps  three  in 
Brunswick,  and  three  in  Savannah  at  a  very  small  cost. 
In  fact,  its  terminal  facilities,  for  which  most  roads 
have  to  pay  heavily,  are  to  be  practically  presented  to 
it  by  the  neighbors, 

I  say  practically  presented  to  it,  because,  under  the 
rule  laid  down  in  the  charter,  it  will  only  have  to  pay 
what  is  assessed  by  a  board  of  assessors,  as  actual 
“  damage  done’’  by  the  “  use”  of  the  track  condemned. 

Now,  as  the  original  company  has  to  layout  the  in¬ 
vestment  for  all  of  the  land,  grading,  cross  ties  and  iron 
anyhow,  the  actual  “damage  done”  will  only  be  the 
wear  of  the  track  by  the  passage  of  the  engines  and 
cars  of  the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia  Company.  The 
latter  company  will,  therefore,  have  the  benefit  of  all 
the  permanent  investments  of  the  companies  whose 
property  it  condemns  ;  and  the  only  excuse  or  justifi¬ 
cation  which  it  can  offer  for  its  modest  demands  is  that 
it  desires  to  have  these  facilities  at  a  less  price  than  it 
will  cost  to  buy  and  build  them  for  itself.  It  is  ab¬ 
surd  to  say  that  they  cannot  be  had  in  any  other  way. 

Gentlemen  representing  this  company  have  had  a 
great  deal  said  in  the  papers  about  the  millions  of 
money  they  are  bringing  to  Georgia.  If  they  can  get 
the  Legislature  to  give  them  the  right  to  use  other 
people’s  property,  they  will  be  able  to  take  the  greater 
part  of  it  back.  But  if  they  have  the  money  to  spend, 
there  is  no  trouble  whatever  in  their  readily  obtaining, 
not  only  equal,  but  greatly  superior  facilities  to  any 


5 


that  now  exist  in  any  city  in  Georgia,  and  if  they  have 
not  got  the  money  to  spend,  they  are  not  entitled  to 
have  them. 

The  Pennsylvania  R.  R.,  which  I  believe  has  no 
more,  if  as  much,  capital  as  this  company  is  providing 
for,  are  now  establishing  themselves  in  the  very  heart 
ot  Philadelphia,  a  mile  beyond  their  present  depots  ; 
in  a  city  compactly  built,  and  where  property  is  ten 
times  more  valuable  than  in  any  city  in  Georgia  ;  and 
they  are  doing  this,  T  am  informed,  without  any  con¬ 
demnation,  but  by  purchase  in  open  market. 

I  dont  believe  the  courts  will  sustain  such  a  feature 
as  this,  in  a  charter  as  Constitutional. 

If  I  owned  a  house,  the  State  may  condemn  it  for  a 
fort  or  a  powder  magazine,  or  for  any  public  necessity. 
But  it  cannot  condemn  it  simply  to  make  me  let  some 
other  person  come  and  live  in  it  with  me.  It  cannot 
condemn  it  simply  to  be  applied  by  another  party  to 
the  same  use  to  which  I  am  applying  it.  If  it  has  the 
right  to  condemn  three  miles,  it  will  have  the  equal 
right  to  condemn  thirty  miles  or  three  hundred.  And 
if  the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia  R.  R.  Co.  have  this  right 
at  all,  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  them  for  their 
modest}^  in  not  asking  a  charter  at  once  to  condemn 
the  whole  Georgia  R.  R. 

The  Louisville  and  Nashville  R.  R.,  as  the  Commit¬ 
tee  are  probably  aware,  is  a  rival  and  competitor  for 
business  with  the  Cincinnati  Southern;  and  the  L.  &  N. 
has  recently  bought  the  L.,  C.  &  L.  R.  R  ,  which  ter¬ 
minates  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Ohio  river,  and  de¬ 
pends  upon  a  lease  and  contract  with  the  Pittsburg, 
Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Railway  for  its  access  to  Cin¬ 
cinnati  by  bridge  and  its  terminal  facilities  in  the  city. 
The  Cincinnati  Southern  has  a  bridge  of  its  own  which 
cost  it  perhaps  a  million  dollars.  How  would  it  strike 
this  Committee  to  hear  that  the  L.  &  N.  road  was 


6 


seeking  to  condemn  the  Cincinnati  Southern’s  bridge 
and  its  right  of  way  into  Cincinnati  for  its  own  use? 
And,  especially,  how  would  it  strike  them  to  hear  that 
they  proposed  to  pay  for  this  use  only  the  damage  that 
would  be  done  to  the  bridge  by  our  trains  passing  over 
it? 

Doubtless  the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany  have  an  agent  in  Atlanta  sometimes  to  look  after 
their  interests.  It  would  be  exactly  on  a  par  with  this 
application  if  they  should,  to  save  themselves  as  much 
expense  as  possible,  apply  to  the  Legislature  to  give 
that  agent  the  light  to  sleep  in  the  same  bed  with  any 
railroad  man  in  Atlanta  on  paying  as  damages  what  it 
wTould  cost  to  wash  the  sheets. 

As  to  the  right  to  cross  the  Georgia  Railroad  or  any 
other  railroad  in  the  State,  I  have  no  objection  to  make. 
But  I  would  suggest  to  the  Committee  that,  even  in 
crossing,  they  should  be  required  to  cross  not  at  grade, 
but  either  by  overhead  bridge  or  tunnel,  as  a  measure 
of  public  safety.  All  crossings  are  elements  of  danger. 
There  is  not  a  crossing  in  the  United  States  at  which 
accidents  more  or  less  serious  are  not  of  quite  frequent 
occurrence. 

It  is  the  law  in  England  of  late  years,  and  I  think  is 
being  followed  in  new  charters  in  many  of  the  States 
of  the  Union,  to  require  all  railroad  crossings  in  future 
to  be  above  or  below  grade.  The  expense  is  not  great, 
being  no  more  than  crossing  a  stream  twenty  feet  wide  ; 
and  the  safety  of  the  public  for  all  time  is  assured, 
and  the  road  itself  receives  compensation  by  the  free¬ 
dom  from  accidents  and  the  saving  of  the  expense  of 
crossing-frogs  and  the  perpetual  salary  of  day  and 
night  watchmen  and  signal  tenders. 

But,  referring  again  to  the  condemnation  of  track 
for  joint  use,  even  if  there  were  no  considerations  of 
equity  and  fair  dealing  or  constitutionality  involved, 


I  do  not  believe  it  would  be  practical  to  operate  jointly 
three  miles  of  track  into  Atlanta  under  condemnation. 
I  am  well  aware  that  joint  track  is  often  successfully 
used  by  two  railroads,  but  such  joint  use  can  only  be 
by  contract  and  agreement.  Where  it  is  a  matter  of 
contract  and  agreement,  the  officers  of  one  road  have 
the  exclusive  charge,  making  all  rules  and  regulations 
governing  the  movement  of  every  train,  an*d  the  em¬ 
ployees  of  the  foreign  road  are  considered  as  the  em¬ 
ployees  of  the  home  road  when  on  its  branch.  Under 
no  other  circumstances  would  anyroad  allow  joint  use 
of  its  track  by  another.  Again,  contracts  of  this  kind 
are  always  only  for  a  term  of  years,  so  that  opportu¬ 
nities  are  offered  from  time  to  time  for  revision  and 
change.  The  right  by  condemnation  would  be  one  in 
perpetuity,  and  would  prevent  the  older  road  from, 
making  the  changes  which  the  gradual  development  of 
railroad  business  is  forcing  upon  the  country  with  suc¬ 
ceeding  years. 

Suppose,  for  instance,  the  thing  accomplished,  and 
the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia  Railroad  Company  to  have 
the  joint  right  to  its  track  with  the  Geergia  Railroad 
out  of  Atlanta,  and  the  Georgia  Railroad  should  desire 
to  increase  its  yard  room  by  devoting  that  track  to 
other  purposes,  and  building  another  one  somewhere 
else. 

The  rights  acquired  by  the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia 
Road  would  enable  it  to  object  and  throw  obstacles  in 
in  the  way  of  the  change. 

Again,  it  is  very  probable  that  in  a  few  years  there 
may  be  a  change  of  gauge  of  some  of  the  principal  con¬ 
nections  of  the  Georgia  Road,  and  it  may  desire  to 
change  its  guage  to  four  feet  and  eight  and  a  half  inches 
from  the  present  five  feet,  in  order  to  save  transfers  and 
delays,  and  cheapen  transportation.  Here,  again,  the 
new  road  could  oppose  and  prevent  it. 


8 


To  force  such  an  arrangement  upon  a  road  by  law 
would  be  equivalent  to  forcing  a  citizen  to  receive  an¬ 
other  into  his  house  to  live  with  him  perpetually  with 
equal  rights  as  to  the  control,  or  forcing  one  man  to  go 
into  a  business  partnership  with  another,  and  all  for 
no  purpose  but  to  save  the  new  comer  some  expense. 

It  is  no  answer  to  my  objections  to  say  that  railroad 
property  is  no  more  sacred  from  condemnation  than 
the  property  of  any  other  citizen.  #That  is  very  true, 
and  cheerfully  admitted.  It  can  be  condemned  to  any 
other  public  necessity,  but  not  simply  to  be  used  by 
another  party  or  competitor  in  the  same  manner  in 
which  I  am  already  applying  it.  A’s  cornfield  cannot 
be  condemned  for  B  to  plant  corn  in,  nor  even  for  B  to 
plant  peas  in  the  rows  between  A’s  corn. 

The  necessity  of  condemning  private  lands  for  right- 
of-way  to  railroads  arises  from  the  fact  that  there  are 
no  other  lands  but  private  lands.  They  comprise  the 
whole  country,  and  a  railroad  could  not  advance  a  foot 
or  drive  its  first  peg  without  acquiring  such  a  right. 
But  the  approaches  to  a  city  are  as  numerous  as  the 
points  of  the  compass.  Some  are  cheaper  perhaps  than 
others,  and  first  comers  to  a  town,  like  early  birds,  get 
the  advantage  of  them.  The  later  comers  can  take  their 
choice,  as  they  arrive,  of  what  is  left,  and  it  only  needs 
a  little  money,  more  or  less,  to  make  almost  any  of 
them  available.  There  is  not  a  city  in  the  United  States 
where  there  is  not  always  room  for  a  few  more.  Even 
in  Chicago  they  do  not  pretend  to  condemn  the  first 
comers  for  the  benefit  of  the  later  ones,  and  if  Atlanta 
desires  to  rival  Chicago  she  should  insist  on  a  complete 
and  independent  line. 

Again,  when  a  farmer’s  land  is  condemned,  he  is 
paid  enough  to  buy  as  many  acres  of  as  good  land  ad¬ 
joining,  and  still  carry  on  his  farming  operations  as 
before,  and  unmolested.  But  if  a  new  road  condemns 


9 


a  part  of  an  old  one  to  its  joint  use,  and  brings  on  col¬ 
lisions,  accidents,  quarrels  of  rival  sets  of  employees, 
and  generally  a  state  of  affairs  which  would  make  life 
a  burden,  must  the  old  road  be  forced,  in  self-defence, 
to  go  and  hunt  a  new  approach  ?  Yet  even  that  would 
be  preferable  to  an  enforced  joint  use. 

And  now  I  wish  to  go  a  step  further  and  say,  that  if 
the  Georgia  Railroad  is  to  be  forced  to  deal  with  any¬ 
body,  it  should  at  least  be  allowed  to  deal  only  with 
corporations  which  present  a  reasonable  certainty  of 
remaining  solvent,  unless  the  State  is  prepared  to 
guarantee  their  solvency. 

Now  I  most  respectfully  submit  that  there  are  some 
peculiar  features  in  their  charter  which  would  make 
me  extremely  reluctant  to  become  its  perpetual  partner 
in  the  joint  use  of  a  track,  or  in  any  relation  in  which 
it  may  have  bills  to  pay. 

In  the  first  place,  its  capital  stock  is  fixed  at  the  enor¬ 
mous  amount  of  $16,000,000,  with  the  privilege  of  in¬ 
creasing  it  to  $25,000,000,  and  its  power  to  issue  bonds 
is  unlimited.  This  amount  of  stock  is  in  itself  an  evi¬ 
dence  that  it  is  not  to  Repaid  up.  No  fluid  but  water 
is  used  with  such  extreme  liberality.  But,  even  if 
there  were  any  doubt  upon  this  point,  it  is  removed  by 
another  provision  in  the  charter. 

Usually  there  is  some  risk  in  subscribing  to  ficticious 
stock.  If  the  company  afterward  gets  in  debt,  and 
the  creditors  can  prove  that  the  stock  subscriptions 
have  not  been  fully  paid  in  cash,  they  can  sue  the 
stockholders  for  the  unpaid  portion  with,  some  prospect 
of  success  But  section  5  provides  that  these  subscrip¬ 
tions  may  ncvev  bo  pciid,  and  yet  no  liability  attached 
to  the  stockholders.  It  says  such  subscription  shall 
be  paid  in  cash,  or  that  which  the  five  corporators 
named,  in  first  section  sJiaTL  doom  its  equivalent. 
The  books  are  to  be  opened,  not  publicly,  but  at  such 


10 


time  and  place  as  the  corporators  select,  of  which  no 
one  else  need  have  any  notice. 

What  is  to  prevent  their  meeting  in  some  back  parlor 
at  night  and  subscribing  the  whole  $16,000,000,  and 
then  receiving  16  bushels  of  chips  and  16  pecks  of  whet¬ 
stones,  or  16  acres  of  wild  land,  and  passing  a  resolution 
that  these  things  “  shall  be  deemed  equivalent  to  cash” 
for  their  purposes,  and  the  stock  declared  fully  paid  up, 
and  the  stockholders  relieved  from  any  liability  to  future 
creditors  of  the  company  %  And  then  the  company  may 
claim  in  the  papers  that  it  has  invested  $16,000,000  in 
Georgia. 

I  do  not  assert  that  such  will  be  its  action  ;  but  it 
has  at  any  rate  very  carefully  provided  the  power  of 
going  as  far  in  that  direction  as  it  suits  its  purposes  to 
go.) 

It  is  none  of  my  business,  unless  I  am  to  be  forced 
to  become  an  unwilling  partner  with  it  in  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  a  piece  of  joint  property.  But  if  I  am  to  be, 
I  earnestly  beg  the  Committee  to  so  modify  this  pro¬ 
posed  charter,  that  the  stockholders  may  be  liable  for 
the  debts  of  the  company  to  the  amount  of  stock  sub¬ 
scribed  and  not  fully  paid  up  in  hard  cash ,  and  not 
afterwards  redivided,  but  actually  expended  upon  the 
road  before  the  placing  of  any  bond  or  mortgage 
whatever  on  the  property  ;  for,  as  the  charter  now 
stands,  its  freedom  to  issue  mortgages  and  bonds  is  per¬ 
fectly  unlimited;  being  in  that  respect,  as  well  as  in 
many  others,  an  exception  to  every  other  charter  in 
the  State,  so  far  as  I  know.  It  is  now  in  its  power  to 
so  cover  the  property  with  mortgages  that  no  creditor 
can  ever  find  property  subject  to  levy. 

I  therefore  object  and  protest  with  the  utmost 
earnestness  on  the  part  of  the  Georgia  R.  R.,  first,  that 
no  person  or  corporation  should  be  allowed  the  joint 
use  of  our  property.  Railroad  property  is  of  that 


11 


character  that  it  cannot  be  used  in  common  except 
under  conditions  of  joint  consent ,  and  even  then,  ex¬ 
perience  has  proved  that  such  joint  use  is  attended 
with  more  than  ordinary  risks.  To  compel  me  to  share 
it  with  any  one  is  practically  to  confiscate  it.  I  would 
rather  have  it  condemned  utterly  and  taken  away  for 
good,  paying  me  reasonable  compensation  and  giving 
me  at  tne  same  time  the  right  to  move  off  to  myself  and 
be  unmolested  in  the  future. 

And  next,  I  protest  that  if  I  am  forced  to  deal 
with  anyone  I  want  at  least  to  deal  with  a  corpo¬ 
ration  constructed  on  a  less  watery  foundation,  for 
there  would  be  constant  expenses  and  accidents  of 
which  I  have  grave  fears  I  would  be  compelled  to  liqui¬ 
date  the  whole  outlay. 

All  of  the  considerations  and  objections  which  I  have 
named  too,  apply  with  a  double  force,  where  the  prop¬ 
erty  proposed  to  be  condemned  is  that,  affording  access 
to  a  city  and  the  terminus  of  a  road,  where  its  trains 
are  made  up.  It  is  on  that  portion  of  the  track  that  an 
enormous  and  constant  amount  of  shifting  of  trains  goes 
on  by  day  and  by  night.  It  would  be  bad  enough  and 
dangerous  enough  way  out  upon  the  main  line  where 
only  regular  trains  pass  Even  there,  I  would pref er  to 
build  a  double  track  and  make  it  a  present  to  another 
road  rather  than  hare  them  use  it  jointly  with  me  ex¬ 
cept  on  my  own  terms  and  conditions. 

But  coming  into  the  City  of  Atlanta,  I  have  no  room  to 
build  a  double  track ;  and  if  I  am  compelled  to  provide  the 
means  for  the  Cincinnati  and  Georgia  Bailroad  to  get  into 
Atlanta,  I  would  rather  make  the  contribution  in  money  to 
whatever  extent  the  Legislature  may  see  fit ,  tor  no  money 
could  compensate  for  the  risk  and  annoyance  and  loss  of 
having  them  there. 

And  to  avoid  any  possible  misapprehension,  I  wish  to  close 
as  I  bcg£  n  with  the  assertion  that  I  am  making  no  objection 


12 


whatever  to  this  road’s  having  a  charter,  and  one  unrestrict¬ 
ed,  so  far  as  its  power  to  build  roads  and  branches  is  con¬ 
cerned.  But  I  do  object  to  its  being  allowed  to  confiscate 
other  people’s  roads,  or  to  my  being  forced  to  become  its 
partner. 

Charter  it  only  in  such  a  way  that  the  public  will  be  safe 
in  dealing  with  it,  and  then  turn  it  loose  to  go  as  it  pleases. 
If  it  has  any  merit  it  will  make  its  own  way.  If  it  has  none 
the  sooner  that  is  made  to  appear  the  better. 

Yery  .Respectfully, 

E.  P.  ALEXANDER. 


